Future Dr. Maggi

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Understanding the spectrum – a comic strip explanation

By Rebecca Burgess   For printable PDF version in English click here.  For version in Spanish click here. French version click here

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"YouDon't Know What's Going On In People's Lives" - Hazel Mead

More of Hazel's art: https://www.hazelmead.com/

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Gagne's Model

Francois Gagné’s model starts with inherent traits, but gives credit to internal and external developmental factors, which can guide educators in how to support gifted students.

Gagne's Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent

Image source: http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/policies/gats/assets/pdf/poldmgtcolrdiag.pdf 

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Betts and Neihart

Here is another attempt at categorizing gifted and talented people. What do you think?

Source:

Perfiles de dotación y talento | La Web de Neuroeducación

Conocer los perfiles de dotación y talento es básico si nos encontramos con estudiantes o hijos con altas capacidades. La situación es la si

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Disenfranchised Grief

Today on NPR, I heard a term that put a name to something that I've thought about over the years, but hadn't processed how I felt about it.

PsychCentral.com explains: “Disenfranchise” means to deprive someone of a right or privilege. In reference to grief, it means to deprive someone of their right to grieve."

It may be hard to imagine standing in the way of someone's grief, but have you ever known anyone who couldn't be consoled when a celebrity died? Have you ever been told you're taking the death of a pet too hard?

Social media has made grief more complicated. With death announcements on my feed nearly every day, I can't keep up. Sometimes I miss them. Sometimes, for my only mental health, I have to turn it off. And I still feel guilty that there is someone I care about who I can't support. I hope I'm not adding to their pain.

And then, because this is the world we live in, what if someone thinks your loved one deserved to die? That they "had it coming?"

What if someone blames you for the death, and thinks you don't get to grieve?

What if the relationship was new, or even in secret, and no one knows what the person meant to you? What if the relationship has been a lifetime, but the family doesn't let you say good-bye.

Grief is complicated enough. And it most certainly is traumatic. But the best way to heal grief is through the support of others. How many people have been denied that? I can't help but wonder, how much have I denied that from others?

Here is the link to the episode of LifeKit that prompted this post.

The Importance Of Mourning Losses (Even When They Seem Small) : Life Kit

It's normal to grieve when someone close to you dies. But what about the feelings that come with the loss of a job, or a long-awaited milest

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Louisiana Criteria for Identification of Gifted Students

The federal government has left a lot up to the states when it comes to education. Essentially, each state has their own criteria for identification, and their own rules on how students will be educated. Here is an exerpt from Bulletin 1508, the guiding document on how students with exceptionalities are identified by Louisiana school districts.

Let's play a game. Where can you spot the potential for inequities and discrimination in this criteria? (We'll digest that another time.)

"C. Criteria for Eligibility

1. Preschool and Kindergarten. Evidence of criterion listed in Subparagraph a or b must be met:

a. the student shall obtain a score at least three standard deviations above the mean on an individually administered test of intellectual abilities appropriately standardized on students of this age and administered by a certified school psychologist or licensed psychologist; or

b. the student shall obtain a combined score of at least 10 when scores are entered into the cells of the Standard Matrix with at least 4 points earned on a test of intellectual abilities.

2. Grades 1-12. Evidence of criterion listed in Subparagraph a, b, or c must be met:

a. the student shall obtain a score of at least two standard deviations above the mean on an individually or group administered test of intellectual abilities appropriately standardized on students of this age and administered by a certified school psychologist or licensed psychologist; or

b. the student shall obtain a score of at least seven when scores are entered into the cells of the Standard Matrix, at least two points of which is earned on the test of intellectual abilities; orc. the student shall obtain a score of at least six when scores are entered into the cells of the Standard Matrix, and a recommendation for classification as gifted is made by pupil appraisal personnel who conducted the evaluation of the student in accordance with the evaluation procedures.

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Giftedness: The Marland Report

What makes a child "gifted?"

There's no easy answer, especially for schools. Being identified as gifted can be a golden ticket for students. It's access to creative and innovative teaching. It's access to interest-driven programming. It's access to project-based learning. It's access to connections and opportunities that extend far beyond classrooms. Frankly, it's access to the kind of education that could benefit any child. But that's another story.

We have a system that needs criteria to place students. A system that needs a line, even if it is arbitrary. A system that needed a definition.

In 1970, Congress charged S.P. Marland, Jr., then US Commissioner of Education, to make recommendations on how to educate gifted and talented American students, starting with an operational definition. Here is the text:

The Marland definition is generally used today to shape policy and guidelines for identification for gifted programming. However, it has never fully satisfied educators and researchers who continue to debate who should be included.

In upcoming posts, I'll explore how that conversation has evolved.

The full report can be found at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED056243.pdf

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Toxic Stress and the Brain

Let's go back to fight, flight, or freeze.

Remember, that's supposed to be a temporary response to a threat. The body assumes that the threat will pass and everything will return to normal levels.

What happens if the threat never goes away? The body adapts by staying in a hyper-alert state. The adaptation is that you are always prepared for the threat. It's exhausting and eventually it takes its toll.

Think of it like battery acid. Contained, it's a boost. If it overflows, you get burned. Likewise, extended release of stress chemicals is damaging. When the brain is still developing (as late as age 28), it is even more sensitive to this process. This is why prolonged stress, such as from trauma, is said to be toxic.

So you're a kid. You've been through a prolonged horrific experience. Your brain is still developing. Your brain doesn't believe you can trust anyone. Your brain is still looking for the next threat. You can barely control your breathing and your heartbeat. You are made to go to school for the first time. A loud, overstimulating place, with a lot of strangers telling you what to do and expecting you to behave.

Even without toxic stress, kids need to be taught how to self-regulate. They need to be shown that you can be trusted. They need time, grace, and support before they can process what you are asking them to do.

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What is giftedness?

From my experience, Sheldon may be an extreme example, but he's an example.

But Pictionary is fun with a whole group of 'em...

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If you are reading this, you’ve survived your life until this point. Heartbreak. Losses. Betrayals. Trauma. And here you are. You go fierce warrior. You are awesome.

– Karen Salmansohn

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Fight, Flight, or Freeze

Alright, children, gather 'round. Aunt Maggi is going to tell you a story.

Once upon a time, a long time ago (though not so long if you ask our DNA), humans didn't have homes to lock at night or grocery stores to get our food. As romantic as it sounds to sleep under the stars and forage for berries, life wasn't easy. Threats could come from literally everywhere.

Sleep in the wrong place and <BAM!> a predator could jump out of nowhere and get you.

Think you're at the top of the food chain with that bow and arrow. <BAM!> Think again!

Tarantulas, tigers, tornadoes, tonsilitis...so many horrible ways to die.

So your brain figured out that the best chance of surviving is to give you temporary superpowers. Remember your brain basics? That little amygdala sends up the bat signal that prepares your body to defend itself (fight), run away (flight), or blend in with the scenery (freeze).

Here is what it's supposed to look like:

Fast-forward to today, and the brain is confused. The amygdala wants to do its job, but for many of us, there just isn't much for it to do. It can start making up threats, which this video explains with cute animations: https://youtu.be/rpolpKTWrp4

Trauma is different. These events are actual threats. This is what the amygdala was made for - kick in survival mode, deal with the threat, and then calm down. Traumatization occurs when, for a variety of reasons, it gets stuck in high gear. We'll talk about that more next time.

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Types of Trauma

So now that you're caught up on ACEs, let's talk about why that study was just a starting point. The initial ten questions covered a lot of territory, but not every kind of trauma. So the research is continuing. Erdman et al. (2020) wrote one of the more recent books on trauma and learning.

Btw, I HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone who works with children...easy to reference, well-organized.

They talk about four main categories: household and family, loss, family separation, and violence and disaster. Yeah, a global pandemic definitely counts.

Now, not everyone is traumatized by traumatic events. We'll talk about that another time. For now, here's the list. Would you like me to further explain any of these?

Household and Family

Physical Abuse

Emotional Abuse

Sexual Abuse

Neglect

Family Dysfunction

Financial Instability

Severe and Chronic Illness

Family Discord

Financial Insecurity and Poverty

Loss

Loss of someone important to the child

Traumatic grief

Family Separation

Refugees and Migrants

Incarceration

Deployment

Divorce

Violence and Disorder

Gun Violence

Natural and Human-Made Disasters

Automobile Crashes

Personal Injury and Assault or Witnessing Violence

Terrorism

Historical Trauma

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What the heck are ACEs?

Just about any discussion these days will reference the Kaiser Permanente ACE Study as one of the seminal works on how childhood trauma can have lifelong consequences on the physical as well as mental health of survivors. Anda et. al (1998) coined the phrase "Adverse Childhood Experiences" (ACEs) to refer to the traumatic events in the study.

In the initial study, they asked ten questions about events that happened before 18. Some were one-time, or acute, events, and some happened over longer periods, causing chronic trauma. They were simple "yes or no" questions that didn't take long to answer...

In fact, let's pause for a moment for you to go take the quiz.

Go ahead, I'll wait....

https://americanspcc.org/take-the-aces-quiz/

You get the idea. The number of "Yes" answers is your "ACE Score."

So this study was huge...17,000 respondents over two years. That's pretty good data.

Here's the doozie...in the study, they found that for each point on the ACE score, respondents' health outlooks got worse and worse.

And ACEs are really common. 63.9% had at least one ACE, and 12.5% had four or more. And that was just on these ten questions, so not every type of trauma was covered.

Think about that...at least 6 out of every 10 people you know has baggage. For me, that's reason enough to take a pause and try to have empathy for others. We don't know what they are carrying around, and chances are, it's pretty heavy stuff.

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Hey, Lizard Brain!

Pic Credit: http://mindfullifeproject.org/why-mindfulness/

Anyone else geek out on #neuroscience?

In order to understand how trauma affects learning, and giftedness could interact with traumatization, you need to understand some basics about the brain and emotions.

This is kind of important. Rather than bore you with a bunch of academic wordsy stuff, watch this fun video!

The hand-brain model is really useful for explaining to kids (and adults) why sometimes it can be hard to get words out, or keep our voices down, or not throw things. It also can be used as a gesture to communicate to others when our lids have flipped and the downstairs brain is in control. If you try it, let me know if it helps!

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So What?

Most grad students will hear this question at some point.

It's the big question of virtually any dissertation or research project. As a friend, who is herself a professor, challenged me: "Why do we need to know this information? How can it be used? Why is this important?"

Seems as good a place to start as any.

So why should you care if a bunch of nerdy kids can't get over their childhood? That guy heading up your research department seems to be doing okay with his six-figure salary. So is the class president who is now aceing her way through Harvard. Senator So-and-so is smiling from her ivory tower, so why should we care what she whines to her therapist?

In American culture, "success" is defined by grades, dollars, fame, and power. At least, that is what is glorified by our media and popular culture. But we feel the effects of it as young as preschool.

We also love a good fall-from-grace story. Admit it, there was something satisfying about seeing Aunt Becky go to prison for abusing her privilege. Would it feel the same to know that the R&D Director drowns out his RSD every night with five strong G&Ts? Or that Ms. Smarty Pants has been keeping her head in books since she was 7, because at least her mind could be in Avonlea or Narnia when her body was being used for someone else's pleasure?

About this point, you may be thinking, "yeah, so? That happens to a lot of people."

Yeah. It does.

That's my "so what?"...

"Giftedness" is a nebulous term (I'll get into another time). However, there are characteristics that tend to be associate with high-ability people (also another post), that could possibly intensify the effects of experiencing trauma (what I'm researching). If that's the case, it could help us better understand how trauma is experienced by any student. It could help us figure out how we can proactively help students develop resiliency, so they are not shackled by their trauma for the rest of their lives. So you, dear taxpayer, aren't shackled by paying for the damage done to their lives.

That's right...if this doesn't fire up your empathy feels, let me appeal to your wallet instead. Trauma is EXPENSIVE for communities. Almost every town pays millions for the effects of it (yep, another post).

I'd love to hear more "so what?"s from others. Why is this important to you? Or why do you think it's not? What do you think could be done with this information? How do you think it could be used?

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Small bites at the elephant...

There’s an old joke.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

So, I’m one of those people who decided to pursue a doctorate, even though writing is not one of my favorite pasttimes.  Since this involves the Herculean task of writing “the big book report,” it was suggested to use a platform where I enjoy writing to create mini-essays on my topic. It sounded like a great time to dust off my old tumblr accounts and see what happens. If history holds, I’ll write about 4 posts and then never touch this again. Or maybe this will be the brilliant start to making my dissertation super-fabulous. 

Wanna help me be fabulous? Ask me stuff. 

Here’s my topic.

We know a lot about gifted students and learning. We’re starting to know about how trauma affects learning. We don’t know much yet about how gifted kids process trauma. 

I’m fleshing out my introduction and literature review, and starting to put together my methodology. What big questions do you have on this?